Dancer's Hope
by StormiWyndz
Summary: It's been over 6 years since Rheba and Kirtn's escape from Loo. Now along with Ilfn, Lheket, and Fssa, they land on a new planet only to find the land of hope not quite what they expected.


The whistle floated teasingly across the surface of the water. The sound was followed by a deep laugh, and then a splash.  
>"Lheket...it's time to board! Kirtn is ready to go!" A young man - about 17 years old stood in the purple water. Cocking his head to hear the sounds of movement nearby, he replied flippantly, "You mean Rheba is becoming impatient to leave again, right?" A Bre'n trill filled the air with it's melody and complexities, amusement and frustration paramount. The being that issued it was a medium sized humanoid, with short brown fur covering her body like a plush luxurious velvet. Where it met her head, the fur turned into long wavy chestnut hair that fell to her waist. The fur of her face was a mask of golden silk, contrasting beautifully against the darkness of the rest of her. Her emerald tinged amber eyes filled with love as she gazed upon her akhenet charge. Using the intricate whistle speech of the Bre'n she conveyed that love with a slight tinge of disapproval at his choice of words.<br>"I meant what I said. Kirtn is ready to move on. We have to be there when they choose the next person we will be taking to their home planet." She gazed into Lheket's beautiful sightless green eyes. "Who knows where the next person will take us."  
>"Yes, Ilfn, I understand." His face turned to the warmth of the triple sun sky. "I just wish we could spend more time on such a peaceful place. The last 3 planets have been rather...violent."<br>Lheket's pupils dilated as he felt the wind blow across his face. Ilfn gently clasped his hand in hers and drew him towards the waiting ship, "Now, none of that, my rain dancer. If you dance now, we will be delayed by your storms. You wouldn't want more irritation from the other passengers." She caressed his pale smooth skin. The lines of his power glowed a faint blue beneath that soft skin. The blue glowed gently, once, twice, then returned to their normal blue lines. He walked with her to the lingering ship.  
>The noise hit him first. Many different languages all trying to be heard over the other. The second things were the smells. So many diverse people...all with different smells. Lheket wrinkled his nose in annoyance. What made him smile, however was the frantic Bre'n whistle quickly followed by a curse in his spoken language of Senyas. He hurriedly whistled back reassurance, and the crowd parted for him to reach the only other Senyas dancer he knew of in existence, Rheba. They had learned early on not to separate any of the Bre'n or Senyas. To do so could cause either massive storms, or searing flame...for as Lheket was a rain dancer, Rheba was a fire dancer. He could not see her, but her essence led him to her. She was like a mini sun. The heat emanating from her body could attest to the worried state she was in.<br>"Where have you been? We have been looking all over for you!" Rheba switched over to Senyas with him so near. "The lottery is about to begin!"  
>"I'm sorry, Rheba. I needed a break from the noise here on the <em>Devalon<em>." His stubborn Bre'n response was tinted with stress at the tight quarters and sadness at distressing Rheba. Rheba gathered him close in a hug, "It's ok, Lheket. We waited." She turned to the console with her arms still loosely clasped around his shoulders and whistled the same intricate trill that gained her access. Shaping the next command, she issued it with a short burst of sound: "Choose." When the number and planet's name appeared over her head, she looked at the monitor, shocked.  
>Number 26 - Onaturas - Planet of Hope<br>"What planet is it this time, Rheba? PLEASE tell me it's not another one I'll have to stay on board for," Lheket asked.  
>"This time we might have just gotten lucky. It's Onaturas. Dubbed the Planet of Hope," Rheba input the coordinates into the console, then got up and stretched. "We have a few impatient and disgruntled people. I have to go smooth things over...again."<br>Lheket turned his head at the sound of fighting. There had been one group in particular that seem to think that Rheba was intentionally dodging their planet. It seemed they didn't realize that it was all random. He felt the charge in the air as Rheba's anger began to rise. His own blue lines of power flared against his pale skin.  
>Rheba waded into the fracas, sending jolt after jolt of molten heat into people as they brushed against her. Her intricate whorls and patterns of fire dancer lines flared as a burning tattoo over most of her exposed skin. Those touched backed off to nurse their burnt parts. That left the two in the middle, still throwing blows over an imagined hurt. She whistled for Kirtn...and then he was just THERE. He filled the room with his presence and EVERYONE stopped to look at the humanoid. Whereas Ilfn was chestnut, Kirtn was copper. His long copper hair brushed the top of his calf muscles, and his mask a beautiful metallic gold. It set off the amber of his eyes...the mark, as it were of a healthy Bre'n. Tall, straight and proud, he stood there, commanding attention. The only two not to notice were the ones fighting.<br>"That will be quite enough, you fools!" Kirtn grabbed a hold of one of the creatures. "You have been causing fights every time the ship chooses another planet...Just because is isn't yours. The choosing is RANDOM!" With this he gave the insectoid a little shake, and set him on the floor. Kreditan, the insectoid in question glared his ire up at the copper furred Bre'n. His response was clipped and chirped, seemingly sarcastic.  
>"He says that even random choices can be influenced by witch's powers," the Bre'n whistle came from Rheba's hair. A long beautifully colored snake-like creature poked his head out. "He says that we are just messing with the lives of the people on this ship at our whim..." Fssa whistled apology.<br>"You are beautiful, snake," Kirtn replied with a gentle caress to his chin. To Kreditan, he said, "You could have gotten off the _Devalon_ at any of the main ports and made your way home from there. You have CHOSEN to remain aboard. Now why is that, I wonder. All you do is pick fights and drop the morale for the rest of the people waiting for their turn. You KNOW that we do not just drop people off. We make sure they are going home to peace. Even if we have to help them end problems. Yes, it has taken a very long while to get this done. However, you have to wait your turn. What you don't seem to realize is that even after we drop YOUR sorry mandibles off, we have to find ourselves a home. Or did you forget our story? Of the destruction of OUR planet?" He looked Kreditan in the eye as the snake-like Fssa translated. For a moment, he didn't think that Kreditan would back down. Kreditan shifted his antennae once and stepped back, bowing low.  
>"Kirtn is wise. I will wait for my turn to come around...But it had better be soon!" Kreditan acquiesced. He clunked away, muttering things that even Fssa wouldn't translate.<br>Rheba gave Kirtn a welcoming smile and stroked his face. Touching him had always been a pleasure. As with all akhenets, he had become her guardian at a very young age. The teacher, the friend, the mentor...and now the lover. She now understood that she would need to share her affection with Lheket. He was the future for her children. Just as Ilfn was the future mother of Kirtn's children. Yet something in her yearned for more. Surely more of her people had escaped from Deva's destruction.  
>"You are thinking about Deva again," It wasn't a question. Kirtn knew her every mood. "I'm sorry to have brought it up." He turned his head and placed a kiss on her palm.<br>"I just believe that there are more out there, Kirtn. I think we have more of an option than you think. I feel it, sure as I feel every energy point on this ship!" Rheba exploded and her yellow hair began to seethe with the power. They both heard a very contented sigh from Fssa. The colorful shape-changing organism sent a very pleased whisper to her ear, "I really love it when your hair takes on the heat! I just never wish to be the one you are mad at."  
>"I'm not angry...I'm just...Even with all the people on our ship, and you, Kirtn, and Lheket and Ilfn...I am lonely," Rheba muttered fiercely, defensively. Fssa crooned a soft note of sadness in her ear. As the Senyas language was direct and engineering, the beautiful tones of the Bre'n language was emotion. And Fssa, beautiful Fssa, was masterful with his uttering.<br>"Rheba? Where are you?" Lheket called out.  
>"I'm here, Lheket," Rheba called back. She watched as her future mate made his way with surety to her side. He had grown so TALL from the child he was when she had met him. He was more sure of himself, and his powers. He still loved to run his fingers through her hair when it was filled with residue of her power. And he always seemed to know when she was upset.<br>"Why are you upset, Rheba? It's a planet of hope we are going to after all." His voice dropped into melodramatic deepness. "It isn't the PLANET OF DOOOOOOOOM!"  
>Rheba's eyes widened at his playfulness, and she felt a giggle welling up inside. She gave in to it and hugged him close. Lheket, despite the pity and sadness she had felt upon learning her mate's disability, had changed her outlook on who he was. He didn't see it as a disability. He saw it as part of his personality.<br>Rheba's eyes widened further, as his hands slid down and he pinched her butt. "Lheket!" she exclaimed, laughing out loud.  
>"What? Am I to be faulted for pinching a lovely woman's behind?" He teased.<br>"And where did you get the idea that I am lovely?" She teased back.  
>"My eyes may not work..." He grinned and ran a hand down her curves. "But in six years, my hands have learned what my eyes cannot see."<br>Rheba laughed again and slapped his hand away. "You have a lot to learn." Fssa hiss-laughed in her ear, and she heard Kirtn chuckle deeply, sending shivers down her spine. That was when everything splintered into thousands of pieces.


End file.
